The First Night Is Always The Hardest
by Peach Creek
Summary: Fem!KevinxReg!Edd one-shot. Kellie and Edd have decided to adopt a child, but Kellie is having a hard time adjusting. Rated T for brief language.


Kellie woke up. For a moment, she was confused. She had no reason to be awake. It was still dark outside. She was sure that it wasn't any later than two or three in the morning. She hadn't had a bad dream, nothing had startled her awake. Something just felt…off.

She exhaled softly, settling back into her pillow. Edd breathed silently beside her, the steady up and down of the sheets the only indication that he was even alive. A curl of black hair rested against his cheek. She brushed it away with the tips of her fingers and tucked it behind his ear, lingering over the smooth skin just below his eye. He twitched, and it was then that she realized that he was clasping her hand tightly. She frowned. He only held her hand in his sleep when he was really stressed about something. Why couldn't she remember what it was?

A noise broke through her thoughts. She froze, straining her ears against the quiet. For several long moments all she could hear was her own breathing, and she began to think that she'd imagined it. There! There it was again. She was suddenly very wide awake, heart racing as she struggled to place the sound. She jumped to the worst conclusion immediately and reached under their bed for the old wooden baseball bat she kept in case anyone tried to break in. She leaned over to shake her husband's shoulder.

"Edd," she whispered. He made a soft noise and tried to roll over. She shook him again. "Edd! I think someone's in the house. Get your ass up!"

He mumbled something unintelligible and rolled to the side. _Useless as always_, she thought. She pulled herself from the sheets, glad that the winter chill had convinced her to wear pants to bed for once. Tightening her grip on the bat, she crept from their room and into the hall. After checking that the front and back doors were still locked, she relaxed, leaning against the counter in the kitchen and resting the end of the bat on the floor. Damn her tendency to assume the worst. She took a moment to breathe and calm her nerves before venturing back into the hall.

As she reached for the bedroom door, the noise caught her attention again. She jumped and squealed. With one hand pressed over her heart, she took quick steps down the hall to the guest bedroom. Tensed and poised to run, she noiselessly turned the knob and slid the door open. The room was filled with a soft, purple light. Her eyes adjusted to it rapidly, and as they did realization washed over her heavily. She sank to the floor just to the side of the door and pressed her back against the wall. She drew her knees up to her chest and let out a shaky laugh. The noise sounded again, but it was okay. This was okay.

* * *

The sound of crying filtered through Edd's dreams and slowly brought him back to consciousness. He sat up and yawned, hands moving automatically to adjust his hat. The first night was always the hardest, or so he'd heard. He hoped this wouldn't be a regular occurrence. Eyes shut, he swung his legs around and stood, shoving his feet into his slippers. He stumbled to the door and felt his way along the wall. The soft sound of his wife's sobs finally convinced his eyes to open. He took the sight in and sighed, the corner of his mouth turning up in a half-smile. His hand perched gently on her head and he ruffled her hair as he turned the corner into the guest room.

A few short minutes passed before he returned. He crouched down beside her, sliding his hand between her knees to lift her face. Her eyes, brimming over with tears, met his. She wanted nothing more than to curl up and cry herself to sleep, but his loving smile was enough to tease the same from her lips. His gaze darted to his left and she followed, her smile sliding easily from his face to that of the sleepy little girl in his arms. The toddler rubbed the sleep and a few stray tears from her eyes.

"Mama," she whispered. Her voice was high and soft, floating to Kellie's ears without disturbing the night. "Mama, don't cwy."

"I'll try, Kimmy," Kellie laughed, choking back a sob.

She held her arms out. Edd passed the tiny child over and took a seat next to Kellie against the wall. His eyes slid shut again as he rested his head on her shoulder, one hand rubbing Kimmy's back soothingly. Kellie held the girl tightly, face buried in her hair. On the floor between them, she laced her fingers through Edd's and squeezed. After a while, cute little snores rose into the air. The two young parents relaxed.

"How are you doing, Mama?" Edd asked.

She could hear the smile in his voice. "I…don't know," she replied softly. Kimmy whined in her sleep, so Kellie freed her hand to shift her into a more comfortable position. "She's…Edd, we have a daughter."

"That we do," he murmured.

"She's not…" Kellie struggled for the words, brow furrowed. "Mine."

He slid his arm between her back and the wall, thumb rubbing circles into her hip. "I know, Kellie." His tired mind flashed quickly through the events of the past several years, the pain and heartbreak that was multiple fertility treatments and endless negative results. "I'm sorry. I can't change that pain, but look at her. Look at your little girl. Our little girl. She's everything I could have ever hoped for, and I watched that same thought etch itself onto your face the very first day we met her. You just had to have her."

Kellie listened silently, fingers idly running through Kimmy's hair. A little fist held tightly to her shirt—well, technically Edd's shirt—with a grip as strong as iron. She yawned, and Kellie yawned with her.

"She's just as much yours as any other child would be, Kellie. Perhaps even more so because you chose her."

Looking down at soft curls, Kellie felt that same stirring in her chest that she felt at the orphanage. This was the right choice, and she knew it. It was hard, of course. It probably wouldn't stop being hard. Having children of her own had always been something that she'd wanted. Learning that she would never be able to do that had broken her heart. This little girl could be a constant reminder of that, or… She buried her face in Kimmy's hair, breathing deeply, and shifted down to snuggle up to Edd's chest. He wrapped his arms around them both and kissed her cheek.

"Yeah," she said quietly. "She's mine. Ours. And even if she isn't, do you see this death grip she's got? We're hers for sure. She's got _you_ wrapped around her finger already, and she's only been here for twelve hours."

"What can I say? I love my girls." He smiled against her skin, nuzzling into her neck with his nose. They sat like that until he began to drift again. He shook his head to clear it and stood, pulling Kellie with him. "Come on. She can sleep in our room tonight."

Hand in hand, they padded down the hall to their room. Kellie gently set Kimmy on the bed, her head wedged between the two pillows. The snoring three-year-old immediately sprawled out, her little limbs taking up far more space than they should have been able to. Edd covered his laugh with a hand as Kellie made a show of maneuvering into bed without disturbing Kimmy. He watched his wife gather up the stray arms and legs and pull the girl against her, patting the now-empty space on his side of the bed. He slid under the sheets and scooted closer, taking the two girls into his arms again. Kellie lifted her head to press a kiss to a little, rosy cheek before sleep overtook her.

"Sweet dreams, Princess."


End file.
